


High Tea with Aphrodite

by reese97



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 22:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5802517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reese97/pseuds/reese97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're scared, Reyna. Scared of me, of love. Scared of what might happen if you'd just let your desires rule over you. It's how great leaders fall, I suppose. But aren't you curious? Does your heart not tremor at the thought of someone else's touch? Lets play a game of chance shall we? I trust it will make you weak in the knees... "</p>
            </blockquote>





	High Tea with Aphrodite

"You're scared, Reyna. Scared of me, of love. Scared of what might happen if you'd just let your desires rule over you. It's how great leaders fall, I suppose. But aren't you curious? Does your heart not tremor at the thought of someone else's touch? Lets play a game of chance shall we? I trust it will make you weak in the knees..."

 In all her years of living, Reyna swore that she never saw a place as dazzling and beautiful as where she was now. She was standing in the middle of an open aired ballroom which at the very least had a dozen crystalline chandeliers dangling off its mosiaced ceiling. Wispy, sheer curtains curled their way across the ballroom's arched columns spilling haphazardly onto its marbled floors, yet she still couldn't shake the feeling of unanimous dread which hung over her like a double-edged sword. The feeling- and her heart rate only seemed to palpitate more once the ghost, the one who had taken her there, had finally decided to make its appearance again. This time it hadn't her too long to decipher who it was.

Reyna had immediately fallen to her knees. "Lady Venus," she said in the most courteous voice she could manage, despite her own heart beat pulsating so loudly, she was afraid that at any moment it would burst from her chest and spill out on to the floor. Back at Camp Jupiter and Circe's Island too, she had heard stories of ill-begotten maidens who dared to cross Venus' path, cursed with a lifetimes worth of bad fortune and most importantly horrible deaths. Venus was the divine ancestress of Rome as well, making her about the most terrifyingly dangerous out of all the Greco-Roman pantheon. If there was on person Reyna didn't want to cross in her lifetime, it was definitely her. From beneath her lashes, Reyna could easily make out Venus' form with her hair, skin and facial features all changing simultaneously, growing more beautiful, more lovelier with each passing second. Her gait was effortless, she had noted. Her smile intoxicatingly beautiful and her eyes... electric blue and utterly captivating. The only thing about her that didn't seem to change. Even from the floor, in mid bow, she couldn't stop looking at them. In the presence of her beauty, Reyna had felt like she was much more of a prisoner than when she was on Circe's Island or even when she was captured by pirates. Venus had then beckoned her towards the small table set up in the middle of the hall.

"Please," Venus gestured while stirring her tea, "have a seat."

Apparently Venus had made a great deal of fussing over their little "tea party", at least that was what she had claimed. It was what women did for each other. Right in the middle of their table was a tray of tiered macaroons, cakes and in short virtually every other type of pastry one would expect to find at high society tea party. After going on a journey as long as hers, Reyna could feel her mouth watering. She had never been invited for tea before... " Reyna, dear," Venus said while pouring her tea, "You must know by now that I didn't just call you here for tea and snacks. After all, you didn't come here alone, did you?" At that, Reyna's back stiffened and the lemon flavored macaroon, which moments ago had melted into her mouth, tasted like dust. Sensing her discomfort, Venus smiled.

"They call you something, the Romans. What was it now? The second coming of Caesar?"

As difficult as it was, she offered a weak smile. "Its flattering, but I don't personally take it to heart," she said earnestly.

"Nevertheless, you are quite the formidable woman." Venus purred, her feline like blue eyes boring into her. They were so much like Jason's... For a moments notice, her thoughts trailed off. "A formidable woman indeed. Resilient, rule abiding and among other things very, very Roman." It took her awhile to notice, but she had soon come to realize that Venus' hand was now on top of hers.

"A true daughter of war, yet heedless when it comes to love." "Lady Venus..." She breathed. "You pride yourself on your emotional constraint yet you desperately want someone to love you." Venus interrupted, her voice flailing with each word. "You are, what's the word mortals use again? A hopeless romantic." She then curled her lips. " Fearless praetor, you might be able to best all your enemies but you can never conquer love. It's a fight that requires no weapons, not quite your forte, eh?" Venus threw her head back in laughter, her delicate and now blonde curls bouncing with her.

The handle of her cup almost snapped from underneath her pressure. Now, more than ever, had it become much more sensible of her to bolt out of room and never turn back. Reyna had the feeling that she shouldn't stay around long enough to hear what Venus had to say next. Venus had then dramatically wiped a stray tear from her eye with her handkerchief, before placing it back on to her lap. "The daughter of war bending her knees in the face of love, its all quite poetic, don't you think?"

Being a Roman by birth, Reyna wouldn't even dare to utter a word against Rome's most powerful patroness and even so, at this point she could barely speak a word, moreover whisper. It felt as if all the air she had in her body had been drawn out from her lungs. Venus however seemed to take it as a queue to continue. "That boy you came with, the son of Jupiter, he seems nice enough," she remarked while smiling from underneath the brim of her tea cup, "But can he make you truly happy? That's the question."

In her defense, Reyna wanted to scream yes dozens, maybe even hundreds of times until she was out of breath and her throat was raw if that's what it took for Venus to get the point and leave her and Jason's affairs alone. Had it coincided with her upbringing to do so, who knows what she would've said then?

"Jason's..." she breathed, for the first time in her life she feared that her own voice was failing her, although she had never been much of a good speaker. "Jason is courageous and kind and good..He's been nothing but nice to me. Of course I would think that he'd be-"

"A good match for you." Venus finished for her. Y-yes," She said uneasily. At his name, her heart couldn't help but swell up and suddenly the apprehending doom of Venus' words crumbled into dust, until Venus decided to speak again. "Right now yes, but in the future?" Venus pondered, "like much else in your life, that's not so much the case. He's destined to disappoint you, I'm afraid. He's kind and courageous too, but he'll never be able to give you the natural intimacy and the love that you crave. He'll never truly be able to heal your heart."

If there was ever such a thing as one's heart shattering, she would believed it was happening to her at that moment. If Reyna had heard those words come from anyone else she would've scoffed but coming from the patroness of love herself... She had bitten her tongue so hard that she could feel blood pooling up in her mouth. The room was suddenly racing around her.

"Like I said before Reyna, you are truly such a character." Venus gushed while crossing her silk-laden arms. "Don't you think at one point someone like Jason would cease to amuse you? Someone is bound to spark your interest again at some point, someone with, whats the word... More bravado? You like men like that don't you?" She teased. Until that moment, Reyna had truly felt there would never be a moment she'd ever feel as powerless and scared as she did when she lived in Puerto Rico and that was partially true; not even when she was captured by pirates with her sister battling for their lives had she felt as vulnerable as she did back in her old home. Not until now.

It was then Venus had finally dropped her ultimatum. "You had must want some stability after having such a turbulent childhood and Jason could give you just that. You'd both become praetors, he'd fall in love with you and soon after you retired both of you would wed. He'd provide you with a wonderful, beautiful family and you'd all live a quiet life together in New Rome." Venus then leaned towards her. "However, you'd soon begin to realize that he'd never love you the way you need to be loved. Before you even realize it you'll become unsatisfied, love sated even, your eyes would begin to wander and he'd notice. You'll break him."

At this point, Reyna didn't know whether she wanted to cry, smash in the table or leave, so naturally she just shrunken into her chair. "However," Venus' words trailed, "If you should chose to stay out of that boy's way, you should meet a love like you have never before." Venus' voice shook with vigour, her eyes, once clear and foreboding, were now completely glossed over. "People shall write songs about your love, plays about your romance. It would never be forgotten. Your love would last through the testament of time. But like all great things, your love too, would be destined to come to an end."

"I-I have always been one to except my fate, and I am grateful, but this.." It was all too much. Reyna couldn't help but wonder how many times she must have sinned to end up with such a fate like this one. Her mind immediately raced back to her last day in her childhood home in Puerto Rico... "Love isn't easy." Venus snapped. "Not everyone gets their fairytale ending, you of all people should know that."

"Yes, I do but-" Reyna stammered, her mouth forming a tight line in a desperate attempt not to cry. 

"But what?" Venus said stubbornly. "As my son would say, love requires everything of you, but he and I differ in the opinion of sometimes it just keeps taking and gives back nothing at all! You will soon understand that, my dear." Venus had then delivered the famous lines, the ones that would haunt her for many years onward: "You will never find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart."

As Venus reached up to collect her things, Reyna felt completely helpless and anchored to her seat. Unlike before, she didn't want to move one bit. She didn't want to go back out there and face Jason. Be still my heart, she chided herself, you have known worse. "Well, darling," Venus called back in her usual breathy voice, "It was nice finally getting to meet you. Remember, you have a choice to make, and I trust you will choose wisely."

...

The Romans, as far as she knew it, had always been gracious and respectful in all things related to their beloved divine ancestress, and for good reason. She was a monster, a fact that remained indisputable as love was the most savage monster of all. To which had rilled up Venus' passions against her, she did not know, but she did have a choice to make, a choice that she would soon find out was not even to her own making.

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been in the back of my mind for months now, I just couldn't get the time to post it as exams were around the corner, but here it is! This is actually a personal head canon of mine because I'm pretty positive that Aphrodite..hates.. mildly dislikes Reyna? I mean looking back at her canon interactions with other characters i'm pretty sure she didn't go as far as appearing as a ghost, which coincidentally is the one thing Reyna is terrified of mind you, and delivering something as traumatic as oh yeah you'll never find love where you want it to be xoxoxo to a 13/14 year old. I think there were a lot of sexual undertones in this fic but i'm still surprised at the lack of fics pertaining to Aphrodite's talk with Reyna because I would imagine she had a lot more to say than no demigod can heal your heart. Its canon that Reyna is one to surpress her feelings and would rather block out her past so I would expect Aphrodite to tease her on that. Also if you couldn't tell I was hinting at something with Venus' whole bit about you'll find a great love but it won't last, one of my many predictions for the following series, please tell me if you are able to figure it out anyway please review!


End file.
